The medieval fishponds are larger and more complex than those at North Hall Manor and were probably built later. They would have served Walgrave Manor. Look out for the artificial island built at the end of the largest fishpond, it may have been used for wildfowl management. At the far end of the fishponds you can see the remains of an earthen dam.
	12. Hall Farm/Walgrave Hall Two smaller ponds near the farmhouse are probably part of the medieval fishpond complex, but were later incorporated into the gardens of Walgrave Hall. The present Hall Farm House is one remaining wing of Walgrave Hall, a mid 17^th century county house. The Malesoures family held Walgrave manor from around 1066 until 1284, when ownership passed to the de Waldegrave or Walgrave family. We do not know exactly where the medieval manor house stood, but it was probably near Walgrave Hall. John Fitz de Waldegrave, who ruled as Lord of the Manor, held Walgrave Hall in 1315, and this family continued to hold the manor until the reign of Henry VII. Around 1500, the Hall passed into the Lane family; they in turn sold it to William Sanders, after which it was bought by Thomas Paget. It was purchased, together with adjoining lands, in 1655 by John Langham Esq., for the then sum of £8,630. The Langham family laid out gardens surrounding the Hall around 1671-4 and earthwork remains of them still survive. Through the years the Hall passed down to members of that family until 1911 when the Langham Estates were sold by public auction. A print shows the Hall in its former glory but little evidence is available as to when it ceased to be a large country mansion and became, as now, a farmhouse. The arms of the Langham family are still visible over a fireplace and are repeated on a communion plate in St Peter’s church, given in 1674 at the same time Sir William received his Baronetcy.
	Farming and Medieval Walgrave Walgrave has been a farming community for more than a thousand years and is recorded in the Doomsday book (1086). But the farming landscape you see around you today is a relatively recent creation, dating from Parliamentary Enclosure of 1776/7 which created consolidated holdings of land with hedged boundaries and new hedged roads. Before enclosure, and throughout the medieval period, the land around Walgrave was divided into three huge open fields (south, middle and north fields), meadows and common land. Traces of these medieval fields and the system of farming can still be seen today. The open fields were divided into numerous narrow strips, which were allocated to individual farmers. A farmer would expect to hold strips in each great field, some on good land, some on poor land. The strips were ploughed by team of oxen in a clockwise direction, so that the earth fell towards the centre and built up over time. This formed the rides of “ridge and furrow” which we can see today. The dips or furrows between the ridges were drainage channels and marked boundaries between strips. Important farming decisions, about which crop to sow or when to begin harvest, were made communally by the villagers..
	As you leave the fishponds behind, cross the stile and veer over to the gap in the hedge on your right.
	13.The stone bridge. The stone bridge (now topped with concrete), is on the route between the manor house and the church and is thought to be medieval in origin.
	Do not cross the bridge but follow the field boundary ahead to the Hannington Road. Cross the stile. Cross the road and continue straight ahead over the next stile and on until you come to a footbridge on your right: cross the stream.
	14. Atterbury’s Field. This field is known as Atterbury’s and contains ridge and furrow as well as the remains of earlier village buildings and part of a hollow way. The strips of ridge and furrow begin a little way up the hill, probably because the land closest to the stream was not ploughed but kept as pasture.
	Follow the ridge and furrow up the hill and you come to a boundary bank at right angles to the strips.
	This ridge marks the end of the village earthwork remains and the southernmost extent of the medieval village of Walgrave. This corner of the field contains some small banks (property boundaries) and low rectangular features, which represent the remains of buildings. We do not know when the buildings were built or why they were abandoned. You can trace the line of a hollow way, which is a roadway eroded through many centuries of use. The hollow way is an extension to the line of Rectory Lane and runs parallel to the village High Street.
	15.Stile to Rectory Lane. Cross the stile in the corner of the field into Rectory Lane.
	16. Crispin Cottages/ Malting House Row/ Bakers Lane. If you look straight ahead as you cross the stile, up Bakers Lane you will see a row of Victorian cottages. These cottages were built by the owner of the shoe factory, Stephen Walker, for his extended family. On the corner of Bakers Lane just across from Crispin Cottages a bungalow stands on the site of a thatch and stone row of houses known as Malting House Row. It is thought that it was originally a malting house – it may have provided brewing for the Five Bells pub, just up Bakers Lane where Church View now stands. The Malt House was divided at some stage into cottages and was occupied until the 1940’s. It was demolished in the late 40’s early 50’s.
	Turn right and walk along Rectory Lane taking a left turn up a small alleyway called Church Lane.